The present inventors have developed a cable protection and guide device 500, as shown in FIG. 15, in which a number of pairs of spaced right and left side plate portions 510 are connected to each other from a mounting fixed end to a mounting movable end. Connecting arms 540 are respectively bridged over a flexional inner circumferential side and a flexional outer circumferential side of the side plate portions 510 at predetermined intervals. A cable is accommodated in a cable accommodating space surrounded by the side plate portions 510 and the connecting arms 540 from the mounting fixed end toward the mounting movable end. The side plate portion 510 has a link module 520 having an integrally molded side plate 522 of a predetermined number through a coupling portion 524 and a stopper link 530.
In this cable protection and guide device 500, the connection of link modules 520 are made as follows. As shown in FIG. 16, at one end of the link module 520 is formed a connecting hook 527 having an outer shape similar to the shape of a coupling portion 524. This connecting hook 527 has an arc-shaped cut out portion 527c at a side end portion. The portion extended from a cable accommodating space side coupling arm 526 is formed as an arc-shaped convex portion (not shown) having the same shape as an element formed on a cable accommodating space side of the coupling portion 524.
At the other end portion of the link module 520 is formed a connecting plate 528. Further, on an outer side surface of this connecting plate 528 and at a portion extended from the coupling arm 526 there is formed an arc-shaped convex portion 528c, which overlaps the arc-shaped cut out portion 527c formed on the connecting hook 527. Further, on a cable accommodating space side surface of the connecting plate 528 and at a position which is a surface symmetry with a position where the arc-shaped convex portion 528c with respect to the connecting plate 528 is formed an arc-shaped convex portion 528d having the same shape as that of the arc-shaped convex portion 528c as shown in FIG. 15.
The connecting hook 527 and the connecting plate 528 are met so that as shown in FIG. 16, the arc-shaped cut out portion 527c of the connecting hook 527 and the arc-shaped convex portion 528c of the connecting plate 528 are overlapped with each other. An upper convex portion 527a provided on an upper portion of the connecting hook 527 and an upper concave portion 531 provided on a coupling portion lower supporting portion 534 of the stopper link 530 are engaged with each other whereby a snap-fit mechanism is formed. Two link modules 520 are connected to each other. Then a back surface of the connecting hook 527 that includes an arc-shaped convex portion extended from a cable accommodating space side coupling arm 526 engages an arc-shaped cut out portion 528e formed at a side end portion of the connecting plate 528 and at an arc portion 539 of the stopper link 530 (see Japanese patent application No. 2007-27921).